Battle for Eden
by Fenrisulven13
Summary: A tribe known as the Eco Tribe wanders out of the wasteland, this tribe have a legacy they themselves barely know about, a legacy that may rock the foundations of the post nuclear world.
1. Stolen Innocence

**Well here's the first chapter of yet another TN crossover, I hope y'all like it.  
For those who are unfamiliar with Fallout there are wiki's for it, this story will be mostly based on Fallout's 1 and 2 and Tactics and may also include SOME elements from New Vegas since it is at least partially based on original Fallout canon, I will NOT (Or very little) have any material from Bethesda's **_**Fallout**_ **3 since I do not consider anything made by them for this franchise to be canon (MY opinion).  
This story is mainly based and AU X-over between TN and Fallout Tactics 1 and what could have been Fallout Tactics 2.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of these two franchises and any of the characters either except my own OC's, Kono Lao, the Radcliff's, Tommy Mathews and Alex Kazai are the property of doctor anthony or created by him to help with the writing of this fic. And the speech here at the top of the story was inspired by Ron Perlman one of the greatest actors in the world.  
I'm not coming down on those too young to remember the good old Fallout…. after all I still fondly remember the days when Nintendo 8-bit machine dominated the market!**

 **Warning; Tragedy and Hints at sexual themes including abuse in this chapter.**

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 _War...war never changes,_

 _It was the inevitable result of the old world politics and demand for prosperity – too many people and not enough room and resources, knowing that war was inevitable the US government planned and constructed huge underground shelters or vaults to house enough people so that humanity could have a second chance, but what people in general did not know was that all but a few vaults had an intentional design flaw meant to test what its occupants would do in these cases, it was designed thus as an experiment by an element within the US government that called itself the ENCLAVE._

 _The project was dubbed the 'The Vault experiment'._

 _To this group the people of the vaults meant little more than as test subjects._

 _But the ENCLAVE built vaults for their own use – to house the "true" American leadership._

 _There was also another group called the Environmental Protection Agency or EPA for short that also through secret backers built their own vaults, their ideal was to restore the world after the war and for this they conducted research on an enhanced version of the original Garden of Eden Creation Kit the so called Super G.E.C.K in their headquarters in Florida, but something went awry as the device malfunctioned directly after the nuclear war and the leadership of the group were forced to flee into the wasteland._

 _Generations later during a great upheaval where a creature known only as the Master who used a virus known as the Forced Evolutionary Virus or FEV to create an army of super mutants in order to conquer the former USA, but this was thwarted by the combined efforts of a man known as the Vault dweller and the Brotherhood of Steel._

 **... 2218 Core Region…**

It was night and Jim Shannon held on tight to his ten-year-old little brother Ben's hand as they kept running through the woods with what survivors there were after the raider attack as they finally stopped for air Jim took a look at first Ben who were desperately trying not to cry despite having seen their parents murdered by those raiders, and then on the rest of the group of survivors, they were an odd group of maybe twenty-five tribesmen and women – but where was?

"Brother!" Jim spun around and smiled weakly at the sight of his spirit brother Kono Lao.

"Kono, thank the gods you survived, I almost feared you'd been killed also." Jim huffed out and Kono gave an equally weak smile.

"Likewise Jimmyboy and I even managed to get some more survivors – enough for the village to start over somewhere else." Kono replied.

"So what now since you are now elder of what's left of the tribe, you are in charge?" Kono asked and Jim felt the sorrow as what it meant that he was now chief of their tribe and the full extent of what had happened " _Our parents and half our Village murdered, and the rest of the tribe has been scattered_." he thought sorrowfully,

"We have to keep moving." he ordered, and the group of people started off as Jim took Ben by the shoulder and led the way.

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A couple of weeks later they finally entered the border of what was the _New California Republic_ where they hoped they would be able to start over, so at a place which they had been told was called Mariposa Highlands at a small river.

One day when they were busy setting up one of many camps of the larger tribe as by now they had made contact with many of the rest, and scrounging the surrounding lands for food, a group of people appeared some of them were dressed in the most peculiar armour which made them look like demonic giants, Jim and Kono and a few others met them with what weapons they had – Jim with his father's old _Desert Eagle_ pistol and Kono with his old Scoped Hunting rifle of _ill repair_ were the best weapons, what was apparently the leader raised his hand in friendship and gestured to the other armour clad giants who lowered their strange weapons.

"No need to worry people, we mean you no harm." the giant assured them but Jim and his men were still tense until one of the people a woman more beautiful than anything Jim had ever seen stepped forward to him; her hair was black as night and she had skin that had a nice dark tint to it and looked very smooth.

"I am Scribe Elisabeth Vaishnavi and I am leading this expedition, we have reason to believe that there may be some remains of an old world bunker somewhere around here and I wish to ask if your people would be kind enough to help us find it or at least let us set up camp with you – that way we could benefit each other!" she said, Jim barely heard a word she said since he was busy awing at her beauty and her voice..." _what a wonderfully soft voice she has_!" he thought.

"Of course we'll help you, but we are also new to this area." he replied and felt his heart sinking when she looked disappointed almost sad and quickly added;

"But we would be honoured to help you and your...err _giants._ " he said unsurely, Elisabeth laughed a little, a soft melodic laughter that caused his heart to soar until he realised that he had yet to introduce himself, behind he could hear how Kono had serious difficulties not choking on his laughter,

"OH, I am Elder James Shannon of the Eco Tribe – but you may call me Jim." he introduced himself, Elisabeth nodded and smiled warmly at him and then noticed the young boy standing behind him holding on to a spear and looking defiantly at the Brotherhood of Steel paladin and his men, she was horrified at how thin the boy looked and she took a look around and saw that almost everyone looked as if they hadn't eaten enough... if at all for some time.

"We could make ourselves useful by providing food for you and your people." she offered, she saw Jim wrestling with obvious pride and then his shoulders slumped and he nodded.

"I'd be grateful for any such supplies if you can spare them." he said resignedly and smiled weakly at her and gestured to his tribesmen to put away their mostly makeshift weapons and let Elisabeth and her warriors enter the _village_.

Paladin Solo were astonished at how easily this Jim Shannon had accepted help, he gently nudged Elisabeth's shoulder.

"Senior Scribe Vaishnavi. Tribals are among the hardiest not to mention proudest people I know of, whatever these poor bastards have been through it must have been pure hell – my guess is they have most likely been kicked out from their usual turf and fled here." he stated deadpan and Elisabeth looked around at the poor excuse for a village and saw what he meant – the tribals looked saddened almost downtrodden.

"Then we must help them further by allowing them to help us as well, that way they can accept our help without losing face." she declared resolutely.

Said and done Elisabeth sent word for additional help from the brotherhood to buy some Brahmin on _condition_ that the tribe when they got their hunting and husbandry up and _running_ again would supply the brotherhood first for two hunts which according to Paladin Solo should be enough for the tribe to _save face_.

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In the following weeks while scouting the tribe managed to find something they thought was a cave infested with giant scorpions inside.

Outside in the immediate area was inhabited by silver geckos and the tribe had started hunting the beasts for their valuable skin and tasty meat, but had pretty much stayed away from the cave proper, and showed it to the Brotherhood of Steel people.

And as they explored the cave after killing the scorpions they found the entrance of an old bunker from the pre- _Great War_ era as the _paladin_ called it, Elisabeth turned to Jim with a smile reminding him of the shine from a thousand stars.

As Jim were guarding her while she was examining some medical computer records after they had managed to start up the small bunker's fusion plant – she kept throwing glances his way when she thought he wasn't noticing, he looked so handsome in that leather armour made from fire gecko hide made in a way so it functioned like a jacket, and that faint smile he gave almost made her heart stop though she didn't know why exactly.

"If you find this boring you could say so Jim." she said and he turned and now smiled a real smile that made her almost stare at those wonderful pale blue eyes of his, they both enjoyed working with each other.

Later back at the village that Elisabeth and her _guards_ were staying she was going through her data on her PipBoy when she felt a gentle touch on her shoulder and turned around, and there was Jim and he was holding out a bunch of beautiful flowers she blushed and smiled and took them.

"Thank you so much." she said nervously as she were unused to men finding her interesting enough to give flowers to her.

"I would like to invite you to our hunting season festival... if you want to that is." he asked blushing, she beamed at him.

"I would love to Jim." Elisabeth answered also blushing.

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Next week members from other villages of the tribe came so that as much of the tribe as possible could celebrate the Hunting season festival, the shamans of the various villages blessed the holy Brahmin and the festivities began, for the feast Kono who were the Tribal Head Shaman had made the holy drink or _Voodoo_ from his own special recipe handed down by his ancestors.

Later that evening Elisabeth walked into the _village square_ and smiled when she saw even her guards were having fun – even the otherwise stoic Paladin Solo was smirking as someone had dressed a wreath of flowers over his armour and he were eating some brahmin steak, when some women took Elisabeth aside and one of them asked;

"Do you like him?" she asked,

"Like who?" Elisabeth queried,

"Elder Shannon." The tribal woman said,

"You see, in our tribe it is the woman that initiate the courtship ritual by placing a wreath of white flowers on the unmarried man she desires and then she have thirteen days to make him interested. So, do you like him?" The woman asked again friendly.

"Yes I like him a lot." Elisabeth answered and the other women smiled,

"Then you should allow us to help you make a wreath of white flowers which you may then put on his head – showing to other women that you are making a claim on him IF that is what you want!?" the other woman said flatly and Elisabeth at first looked puzzled then she remembered that most tribals and even some city dwellers had customs like these, some very intricate, she thought it over for a while and decided that she liked this tribal man.

" _He is very handsome and cute, and this would be as a form of courtship like they used to do it in the past._ " she thought,

"Well then, yes, can you show me how?" she finally answered and she and the rest of the women helped her make the wreath, when they were finished they re-joined the festivities, Elisabeth were watching him across the square with all the dancing going on, she rose and walked over to him and he looked at her nervously, she smiled at him and then put the wreath on his head – Jim blushed and smiled widely at her and offered his hand which she took and then he led her out into the middle of the square next to the totem post and Paladin Solo nearly choked on his steak when he saw them as he had half expected this but it was still disconcerting.

" _The Elders are going to shit a brick when they find out._ " he thought half amused as he watched the young couple dance and smile as if the world was NOT a bombed-out pile of shit.

As Elisabeth were dancing she noticed Jim's little brother sitting by himself and eating with the other children, but he still looked sad – even though to Elisabeth's relief he and the other children didn't look as malnourished anymore, when the dance were over she walked over to him.

"Are you alright?" she asked and touched his right cheek gently, and he at first looked up at her and then his eyes darted nervously to left and right, then he looked at her.

"Will you take my brother away from us?" he asked and it was the way he said it that made her heart ache it was almost with a pitiful expression –

"No, his place is here, and we will only be courting...and I would never take your brother away from you." she said and Ben blushed as she could see that despite him saying _us_ he meant himself despite him trying to put on a tough façade he was still a little boy, Elisabeth couldn't stop herself as she hugged him and after a few seconds' hesitation he returned the hug, after a while she looked at him.

"So how about you and I be friends then?" she smiled at him and even the sad face started cracking up into almost the same kind of smile like that of his brother Jim.

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Over the following months as the tribe resettled into its new territory, Jim and Elisabeth saw a lot more of each other and their fondness grew...eventually into love and after about a year they were married with Elisabeth being escorted to Kono who were the tribe's the Shaman by Paladin Solo and Jim were flanked by his brother Ben, and Elisabeth's younger sister Tanya was the maid of honour, in the years to come Tanya and Ben started to grow close even though she were older than him she had found a liking for the silent boy with the silver grey eyes.

" _He look so sad, and those eyes…. they do break my heart, how much pain there is in them._ " Tanya thought to herself and smiled at the boy or as she would soon call him _Bright eye_.

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 **...Late 2219 Lower Midwest...**

Linda Reynolds had been forcibly taken by warriors from the Beastlord _Night stalkers_ tribe and was brought to their _Lair_ in the Bunker system beneath New Mardin; it would seem as if _Emperor_ Daar II had developed a _liking_ for her, she felt disgusted as he seemed to undress her with his sickly green eyes... then again her captors hadn't really given her much clothing to undress in the first place... normally she wouldn't mind trying out a dress like the very thin one she had been forced to wear.

But NOT for this creep!

Linda was the daughter of Anthony the Elder of the Werewolf Tribe, one of the few tribes that still used family names to mark their ancestral _bloodlines_ ,

"Do not be afraid, lovely Linda I sssssshhhhall not harm you." Daar hissed lustfully.

"You only do this because you think my father will let you rule our tribe." Linda scoffed and tried to back away baring her fangs at him and growling fiercely, this only seemed to make Daar even more _lustful_ as he approached her and she tried backing away further but her back met the wall and then he lunged at her and as he were much stronger than Linda he wrestled her down on the bed and for Linda the world became a place full of pain and fear as she clenched her eyes shut.

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Days later Linda managed to sneak out of the caves and fled across the wasteland and finally staggered into a Werewolf village, she was exhausted and at first refused to speak even when her father Anthony the tribal Elder who had been sent for came, when she finally DID speak it was with a voice full of shame and told him of what Daar had done, Anthony was enraged at what had happened to his baby girl but spoke to her gently.

"Linda, sweetie, you have done NOTHING wrong, it was that monster that did wrong upon you." he assured her as she fell into his arms and cried... more out of relief than anything else.

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The following week Elder Anthony declared his tribe no longer part of _Emperor_ Daars domain.

A few months later Linda discovered that she was pregnant.

"Do not worry Linda we'll keep this child from its monster of a father." Anthony assured his daughter.

"But father, how will I ever look into my baby's eyes knowing how it came to be?" Linda fretted.

"Linda, this child will be welcome into this family AND the tribe, I promise you I'll find a way for Daar to pay for what he's done to you." Anthony kept assuring and hugged her.

Months later Linda gave birth to a baby boy, which she named Marcus and the tribe despite HOW Marcus had come into being rejoiced as according to the tribal shamans he showed only the traits that were typical for the Werewolf Tribe, and the tribe unanimously swore to make the _Night Stalkers_ pay for their arrogance.

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 **...Late 2224 Core Region...**

Ben woke up with a headache the size of a brahmin, he tried to remember how he got there, warriors came from the sky and took him and Tanya and brought them to this accursed place known by name as Mariposa...to Ben's tribe it was a place of evil... a place to be avoided almost religiously. he remembered back to earlier in the week when he together with his brother and his wife as well as their spirit brother Kono Lao and Elisabeth's sister Tanya had celebrated Ben's sixteenth birthday, to Ben it was his rite of passage into manhood and a full worthy member of the tribe...and with that Tanya Vaishnavi had during the celebration placed a wreath of white flowers on his head and by doing so per Eco Tribe tradition declaring her claim to him as her future husband, the two had been friends for years and that friendship grew into love and since Elisabeth was Tanya's only living relative she had given Tanya her permission after of course asking Jim as both his brother and elder and Kono as the tribal shaman.  
Elisabeth and Tanya had a brother but no one had seen him in years... of course, the marriage plans had been to the chagrin of the BOS.

Then barely a week later they came... they looked like demons from hell flying in those weird contraptions _Vertibirds_ he'd heard one of them call them... they took Ben and Tanya it was barely three months after the birth of Elisabeth and Jim's son Joshua or Josh.

"Ben?" he heard someone whisper and turned around in the almost completely dark cell and looked at Tanya's tear-streaked face,

"Have they hurt you Tanya?" he asked angrily and tried to stand up but got dizzy the moment he did so.

"Careful Ben, that hit you got in the head might be a concussion." she berated him, when they had been taken Ben had tried to stop them by attacking one of those soldiers in advanced power armour and the soldier in question had struck Ben in the head with the butt of his rifle, there had been some blood and she had at first thought he was dead until she confirmed he were breathing.

"Are you okay Tanya?" he started, "Did they hurt you?" he asked again,

"No I was worried that YOU had been hurt... or worse." she answered fretfully,

Ben shrugged and shook his head,

"I'm fine Tanya, though my head feels as if I've been kicked by an angry brahmin." he assured her,

Then the door to their cell opened and a pair of soldiers in power armour barged in and manhandled Ben to his feet.

"Leave him alone!" Tanya shouted at them but they ignored her and dragged Ben out of there despite his valiant but pointless resistance, and again Tanya were left alone in the dark cell.

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Ben were strapped down to a table as two people one young redheaded woman that kept _touching_ him in ways he did NOT like and he tried telling her in so many or few words but was ignored he even tried growling and then screaming but all that came forth was a pitiful whimper, the woman with the red hair stuck some needles into him that made him feel sick in a way that he had heard described by people who had gotten too close to areas were the evil spirits of the _great war_ still lingered.

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Tanya opened her eyes when the door to the cell opened again and Ben was unceremoniously thrown in and immediately crawled into a corner, when she managed to coax him to turn around he looked... ashamed.

"Ben?" she asked but he said nothing and simply tried hiding his face against the wall,

"Ben, please talk to me... what happened?" Tanya asked again and this time Ben looked at her with a truly pitiful expression,

"That woman... that she-demon... she...!" he was quiet for a while,

"She DID... _things_... with me!" now he was actually blushing,

"She did what Ben?" Tanya asked worried.

"She touched me on the... she did things to my _little tribal!_ " he finally croaked out, Tanya somehow understood what he meant and hugged him but had little time as the cell door opened again but this time it was her turn to be dragged out as Ben when he tried to stop them was rewarded with yet another bump on the head.

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Ben sat alone for what felt like an eternity until the door opened once again and Tanya were let inside again and she went straight for Ben and they hugged with Ben trying to _shield_ her from whatever evil things they did, suddenly they felt as if they really needed each other and they started fondling each other they couldn't explain it... there simply was this weird _sensation_ in Ben's body he could not figure out why... true as their friendship had grown into love he'd thought of her as the most attractive girl ever but now...

" _By all the gods, am I thinking about mating... NOW?_ " he thought angrily and rose and started pounding on the door until his knuckles were bleeding and he continued in an effort to try and _scratch away his itch_ , he was interrupted in his raving by a petite hand on his shoulder, he turned around and saw Tanya's face streaked with tears,

"Please stop, Ben you're hurting yourself." she said soothingly but with a very shaky voice,

"Tanya I'm sorry but we have to get out of here before I do something really stupid!" he said desperately, Tanya gently caressed his cheek.

"Oh, my beautiful Bright Eyes, I love you more than anything and right now I don't care what is appropriate or not." She said determinedly.

Tanya cupped his cheeks and drew his face closer at first Ben resisted as he feared losing control but to no avail she drew him closer and pressed her lips against his and they completely lost it as a calming kiss deepened and was eventually anything BUT calming as Tanya started removing his shirt and Ben didn't stop her since he was too busy unbuttoning her blouse...at home Elisabeth, Jim AND Kono had managed to interrupt them during what Tanya called _make-out sessions_ but this time it were something further as Ben started kissing her neck and the one thing led to the other.

Later when they were laying on the small mattress still passionately holding each other close, Ben finally dared to say it;

"I love you Tanya." Ben stuttered with a shaky voice, and Tanya snuggled closer,

"I love you too Ben." Tanya said with an equally shaky voice and they held each other close,

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At the base command centre a woman with flaming red hair in a lab coat smiled evilly as she watched the young couple, she had been unsure at first about those two but then after having given them the special FEV treatment... not to mention the _enhancing_ drug to make them more... _sexually inclined_ ,

" _Now all I have to do is sit back and observe..._ " she thought smiling in a way that would make most people shiver.

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Enclave trooper Vincent Cronkite usually did as he were told and didn't ask questions... like a good soldier, but lately he had been having second thoughts, true he had always been picked on by his peers and superiors alike for his height... or _lack thereof_ as some would say, he was a _dwarf,_ something that had been a great shame for his parents, not even when he joined the Enclave military they were satisfied, some even called him a _mutant_.

So, he did his job, but somewhere there appears this line for what a person considers right and wrong, and what those eggheads were doing to those kids was... WRONG plain and simple!  
And so Vince made a choice as he were sneaking... _sneaking_ was hardly the right word when one was dressed in powered armour – a man in such an armour could easily take down a tank and wasn't really meant for _sneaking_ , he opened the door to the cell and looked at the two teenagers huddling in a corner.

"Lad, lass, it's time to go." he said with his usual Scottish accent and they obeyed reluctantly and followed him out of the cell and then out of the cell block and finally out of the base and into the night.

Vincent _requisitioned_ one of the old Humvees that were parked outside and drove with the two kids as far away from that accursed place as he thought were safe considering the dangers in the wasteland, they eventually came upon the armoured door of an old bunker and as Vince were wearing his armour that not only protected against anything except energy weapons and all but the most powerful small arms firing armour piercing, it also greatly increased strength of the wearer – managed to pry the rusted old door open.

"We should be safe in here." he said to them and just thought that neither of them had said so much as a squeak to him or each other and decided that maybe introductions were in place.

"I'm Vincent Cronkite by the way, but if ye wish ye may call me Vince." he introduced himself when they were inside, the two teenagers looked at each other and then at him, the boy looked him in the eyes – or as much as possible since Vince's eyes were covered by his helmet's shade function,

"I'm Benjamin Shannon...but you may call me Ben." the boy said without showing fear... Vince respected that,

"And my name is Tanya Vaishnavi, I'm Ben's fiancée." the girl said – who seemed maybe a couple of years older than Ben, and Vince took forth his Pip-Boy and started looking for a terminal so he could check how safe it was in the bunker,

"A Pip-Boy, I haven't seen one like that before, my sister has one but it's an older model." the girl Tanya exclaimed excitedly, Ben simply stared at it suspiciously as if it could jump forward and bite them,

"A device of the ancients?" he asked and then Vince were glad that at least the girl seemed to know SOMETHING about high tech equipment, the boy was a tribal no doubt about that,

"Why did you help us?" Ben asked straightforward and Vincent winced,

"Because it was the right thing to do." he said simply in his coarse accent,

"But breaking with your tribe even if they are evil, you have exiled yourself... for our sake." Ben stated and then smiled faintly,

"For that I owe you a life debt." He stated,

"Thanks lad, but it's not necessary." Vince replied as he were checking the terminal he had found and checked for radiation,

"Radiation levels?" Tanya queried and Ben looked puzzled and Vince showed him on the Pip-Boy a small image of the radiation hazard symbol and he regretted it almost immediately,

"The sign of evil spirits!" Ben said, and Vince grinded his teeth, Tribals were people that in most cases had gone _stone age,_ in some cases even more _primitive_ after the Great war, personally Vince had no problems as many tribals had like the _native Americans_ before themgreat knowledge of the land – where to find food and such, and that they were tough as hell, but they also had a tendency to explain everything with _spirits this_ and _spirits that_.

" _Not his fault, the lad has been taught this way._ " Vince thought,

"No radiation in this place." Tanya stated while smiling at how annoyed this _Vince_ seemed at Ben's outburst.

Eventually they found what to Vincent looked like the personal quarters of the commander of the old bunker, there were a rather large bed at the far end in an adjoining room and some old but lavish furniture and a desk with one of those at the time of the great war modern smaller computers that could actually fit on a desk, there was a drawn-out pair of yawns behind him and he turned around and he saw that the teens looked tired,

"Okay kids, you two sleep in here and I'll take a look around." he said and started off, but before he left, he saw what looked like a steel box in the corner of the room, it wasn't locked and he opened it and smiled at what he had just found, he turned to Ben,

"Oi, laddie, ye know how to use one of these?" he asked and handed Ben the assault shotgun he'd found in the box Ben looked at it and his eyes lit up,

"Thanks, A Pancor Jackhammer, only a few were ever made by the ancients." Ben said as he examined the weapon and checked if it was loaded and rummaged around in the small cupboard next to the large bed until he found what he was looking for; a box of _slug_ ammo for the _Pancor_ ,

"I'll make do." he said and Vince smiled and walked out of the quarters and went first to the main entrance to make sure it was securely closed,

" _At least the lad knows weapons other than spears and rocks_." he thought amused and continued on.

" _Seems like it may have been an old storage bunker_." he thought after having found a couple of storage rooms one was empty the other had some boxes with some form of water chips and another with some food articles he grabbed one that were labelled _TV Dinner_ though he could clearly see that it was not edible anymore and he was very unsure if it ever was in the first place...at least not very healthy,

When he got back after having checked out the bunker and found nothing worrying he as quietly as he could in his armour checked on the teens, they were in the commander's bed sleeping soundly in each other's arms with the Pancor leaned against the cupboard close to the bed, so Vincent gently closed the door and sat down on the couch and tried to sleep...in his armour which at first were difficult but eventually he fell asleep as well.

 **Well that was the first chapter, please give me some reviews and tell me what you think of it.**


	2. New Friends and an old foe

**So, here's chapter 2 of Battle for Eden,**

 **Give thanks to doctor Anthony for proof readi'n this muck y'all… ;)**

 **I was trying to practice my "Southern" accent that seems to be the dominant language in the Fallout games.**

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Ben woke up suddenly in the dark and for a brief moment wondered where he was, there was movement and someone breathing close to him, he could feel warm breath on his face,

He fumbled in the dark on his other side, and then there was light and Tanya turned to look at him after finding the light switch on the small cupboard on her side of the bed.

She smiled at him,

"Ben, are you alright?" She asked with her soothing voice which made Ben's heart soar and his knees wobbly.

"Yeah, I'm fine, how are you, I didn't hurt you did I?" He asked with a small voice and worry in his face,

Tanya understood that he was still ashamed at what he felt that he had done and gently caressed his stern and yet kind face lovingly,

"No, you didn't hurt me." She replied smiling at him,

"I think they must have done something to us that made us more… well, eager for our wedding night." She tried explaining as she knew that whatever those people at Mariposa must have done it most likely increased their desire for each other.

She gently took his face between both her hands and looked him in the eyes,

"Don't feel ashamed my beautiful Bright Eyes." She said soothingly as she could clearly see Ben was wrestling with obvious honour issues about _deflowering_ her before the wedding.

"But, I was so…" He started and were gently silenced by her tutting him,

"I was as much willing as you my love. Let's just see this as our unofficial night before the wedding." She said smiling and kissed him sincerely.

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Vincent woke up and could clearly hear the two youths were awake in the other room and rather than sitting on the couch and awkwardly pretend that he didn't hear what they were most likely doing from the _sounds_ they were making, he decided on taking another patrol in the small bunker and rose to his feet,

He was rather hungry and for the very briefest of moments he actually contemplated trying one of those probably century old TV-dinners but quickly decided against it.

" _Should have brought some MREs with me before I broke those two youths out_." He thought and then it all came back to him, the realization that he had effectively broken with the Enclave and his family – not that it really meant that much to him – it was more a _liberating_ feeling, his family had always looked down on him, his father he suspected even hated him after his mother died,

His mother, the only person that had loved him for what and who he was and for a moment after he had left the room he stood and looked sad – not that it would show through his helmet or armour – for anyone looking it looked like he was in dire need of oiling.

As he walked and checked the rusted door and could make sure it was secure he were satisfied, he could hear his com crackle as he had kept it active at the Enclave frequencies, he listened in without sending anything;

"Well, I've found the hummer, and I've also found some tracks leading to a rusted door to what seems to be some old bunker, I'll go and check it out." Came a voice in the com,

"Remember, the traitor may be armed and dangerous, be cautious. And orders are to bring the other two back unharmed." Came another voice.

Vincent quickly walked back to the quarters and knocked heavily on the door, he could hear them both yelping in surprise.

"Lad, Lass. We have to move." He ordered and then went back towards the door, he made it back just in time to see the door slowly swing open…

…

…

…

Jim, Kono and a large group of their best warriors together with a few BOS warriors led by Paladin Solo had been out for three days looking for Ben and Tanya after the raid,

The tribe's best trackers had found a side trail leading to what according to Solo's maps was the location of a small pre-war storage bunker,

Kono was moving ahead of the larger group when he saw a _man_ in one of those suits of armour worn by the warriors that had raided the hunting camp carrying off Ben and Tanya,

These armours while definitely similar was different than the armour worn by the Brotherhood of Steel warriors.

He quickly ducked for cover and watched how the strange warrior seemed to be examining a vehicle that Kono recognized from his old textbooks as a _Humvee_ ,

Kono carefully moved closer and picked up a small bag out of his medicine pouch in his belt, careful not to brake the fragile bag as it was a mix of radscorpion as well as brahmin dung making it very sticky and could be used as a weapon, normally it was used to drive away larger predators thanks to its rather pungent odour,

The strange warrior now moved towards what looked like a large metal door,

The strange warrior started to push the door open and Kono had this feeling that someone important to him was in there and whistled loudly from his hiding place not far away,

The Enclave trooper heard something whistling as he was trying to push the rusted door open and turned toward the whistling and….

*SPLAT*

His vision suddenly was covered as all he could see through the _visor_ of his suit was some greenish brownish looking sludge that stuck to his helmet,

He tried to remove it with his free hand while shooting in the general direction the _sludge_ came from.

Kono had to duck down behind the rock as the plasma shot hit the rock sending shattered pieces of superheated rock flying…

…

…

…

Vincent's heart had skipped a beat as the large rusted door had begun to swing open when suddenly there was a _whistling_ sound like a bird from the outside followed by another noise of something wet hitting hard surface.

He dared a careful look through the crack of the partially open door and saw one of his former fellow Enclave troopers trying to remove something clearly sticky from the front of his helmet while shooting almost wildly at some rocks further away,

Vincent started pushing the door open thinking he could sneak up on the other trooper but of course the door _decided_ to be difficult,

*CREEEAAAK* The sound of rusted steel sounded loudly and caused everyone both outside and inside the old bunker to notice, but most of all was the Enclave trooper turned and had just managed to clear enough for him to see and fired…

The plasma shot hitting Vincent square in his chest…

…

…

…

Kono noticed how the armoured giant fired at something inside what looked like an open door to one of those _bunker_ thingies, another sound behind him made Kono look, and he sighed in relief as he could see Jim and Solo advancing followed by some of the Tribes best warriors,

Jim came running towards Kono who waved for him to duck down,

Jim gestured to the others to take cover as then another bolt of plasma hit the rock where Kono hid,

Jim crawled over together with Solo who was amazingly agile despite the _powered_ armour,

"What in the name of the gods and spirits is going on here Kono?" Jim hissed as he and Solo now had joined Kono behind the rock,

"It looks like one of those warriors that attacked the festival a few days ago." Kono responded,

Solo took a peak before he quickly ducked back down as another plasma blast hit the rock.

He instead carefully crawled so that he was slightly beside the rock and took aim and fired at the power armoured individual,

Now the Enclave trooper realised he may be in over his head and started moving into the bunker, which he soon regretted as…

*PUM, PUM, PUM* the shotgun blasts made him stagger from the sheer force even though they did not go through his armour…

…

…

…

Ben had come just in time to see Vincent go down after being hit by some greenish looking fire in his chest,

Ben quickly gestured for Tanya to stay behind him as he carefully peeked and for a few moments there was some noise as if someone was firing a weapon, a weapon noise Ben had heard during the festival when those demonic armoured warriors had shown up.

A few more moments and now he could clearly see Vincent was moving but so was also the warrior that had shot him, the giant in the strange armour similar to Vincent's was now moving inside the bunker as Ben could hear other weapons fire from outside.

Ben quickly snuck closer to what he considered as point blanc range and readied his Pancor Jackhammer,

And then fired at full auto as the other warrior turned to look behind him…

*PUM, PUM, PUM*

The warrior did stagger backwards from the obvious force but as Ben suspected, did not actually seemed to be hurt,

Ben simply emptied the clip into the trooper that stumbled backwards into the open doorframe and fell down,

Ben sighed but then the trooper started getting up, and except for some scorch marks on its torso didn't seem injured in the least.

By now Vincent had come back on his feet and tried to get the trooper's weapon.

The Enclave trooper lifted the traitor up using his armour's strength and threw him into a wall, though he dropped his plasma rifle and fumbled for his ripper instead, but then the savage was upon him…

…

…

…

Paladin Solo quickly approached the open bunker door with the others coming behind him,

And the scene that met him made even him gawk.

Ben jumped at the armoured warrior as he saw him go for yet another weapon that looked like a long combat knife or a short sword,

Ben managed to get the weapon first as he clung to the giant's back and without anything else to think of, he started stabbing at the neck or throat of this warrior that did everything he could to shake him loose,

Either by luck and/or maybe divine intervention the strange looking _knife_ got through the neck or the Enclave trooper's armour and Ben using all his strength drove the knife into the giant's throat.

The Enclave trooper died almost instantly as the ripper went through his throat and into his spinal cord.

By then there was a shadow in the door opening and Ben scrambled to his feet ready to defend his future mate and his new friend.

"Easy kids, I'm on your side." Solo quickly defended himself as Ben was about to charge at him and Tanya had picked up what looked like a shotgun of some sort.

Now Vincent again got back up and carefully approached,

"Hold it, whoever you are shorty." Solo said warningly at the shorter warrior wearing a similar powered armour like the one that young Ben had just killed, by now Jim, Kono and the others had reached the opening and were pointing their weapons at Vincent…

…

…

…

Both Ben and Tanya ran over and stood in front of Vincent as he raised his hands in a non-threatening manner,

"Stop, he's on our side!" Ben protested,

"Kids, get out of the way." Jim said harshly,

"Please, listen to us, if weren't for Vincent, we'd still be prisoners." Tanya argued.

The others lowered their weapons.

"What're ya kids on about?" Kono asked and looked at them,

"Vincent helped us." Ben and Tanya said in unison,

Paladin Solo had picked up the dropped weapons and stared Vincent down, Vincent stared back… Not that either could actually see the eyes of the other and least of all could anyone else thanks to their helmets.

"It's true, I did help them escape." Vincent said, still with his hands above his head,

Jim put his weapon away and walked over to Ben and Tanya as did Elisabeth and hugged them both,

"Half the tribe's been out looking for the two of ya." He said in relief,

"Are you both alright?" Elisabeth asked and started checking them both and just then noticed how Ben was looking at Tanya out of the corner of his eye while blushing as did she, though Tanya seemed more amused,

Jim then turned to Vincent that was still being guarded by Solo and a couple of his soldiers.

"Is it true, what Ben and Tanya said? That you helped them, why?" He asked sternly,

"Aye and aye, and finally aye, I felt I had to help them for what those crazy Enclave scientists were doing to them was evil and that woman is the worst of them." Vincent answered,

Jim then smiled,

"Well, you have my thanks and that of the tribe, we owe you a life debt for this. As far as I'm concerned, you will always be welcome in the Eco Tribe." He said with a smile of relief and gratitude and offered his hand which Vincent took in a brotherly handshake.

Solo and his soldiers lowered their weapons,

"You've saved the life of the tribal chieftain's younger brother and his fiancée who is also a member of the Brotherhood of Steel, you'll have to be debriefed on this _Enclave's_ activities though." He said and Vincent nodded.

After having checked and taken what they found of use from the old bunker the Eco and their BOS friends returned to the Eco main camp, where Vincent was hailed a hero and a feast was held in his honour,

To Vincent this was the first time he had not only been accepted for who he was but appreciated on top of that…

The Brotherhood of Steel sent a heavily armed force to check out the place where Vincent as well as Ben and Tanya had said was the base of the Enclave but found nothing as the entrance of the now abandoned base blocked due to a recent explosion, and as the BOS forces in the region were needed elsewhere the matter was promptly dropped by the BOS leadership…

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…

…

When the leadership of the Brotherhood of Steel had found out about it they protested Elizabeth and Tanya marrying two outsiders and savages no less.

But the Brotherhood had other issues to handle and soon Paladin Solo was sent off together with a group of dissenters – that had actually blocked any disciplinary action against Elisabeth and Tanya and their _mates_ – To the Midwest to ascertain what had happened with the remnants of the _Master's_ Super mutant army.

Also at around this time another faction of the Brotherhood journeyed to the former Texas Commonwealth and both of these factions was simply abjured and forgotten by the Core Brotherhood of Steel that eventually came into other conflicts on the West coast, with the growing powers in the area…

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 **That was this chapter, I hope y'all enjoyed it and sorry for having taken so long.**


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